racing bikes: Test: Specialized Diverge Comp E5 – Gravel light or road bike plus?

Test: When it was introduced a few years ago, the Specialized Diverge was something of a trailblazer for the modern gravel bike. Since then it has been constantly further developed and now also comes with the in-house Future Shock System, which offers 20mm of real spring travel at the front.

Specialized Diverge Comp E5: The Facts

Frame material: Aluminium
Wheel size(s): 700c
tire clearance: 40mm (700c)
Axle dimensions (v/h): 12 × 100/142 × 12
Mudguard Eyelets: Ja
Luggage carrier eyelets (v/h): No Yes
bottle holder: Down tube up, down tube down, seat tube

Wheel weight v/h (with tires, cassette and brake discs): 1.460g / 1.990g
Weight complete bike without pedals (size M): 9,68kg
Price: € 1.899

Specialized Diverge Comp E5:

Gravel light or road bike plus? The Diverge leaves room for interpretation, and we opt for the latter reading. 30 mm narrow tires and 2×11 gears speak for the road bike, especially since the Specialized leaves little room for “more” when it comes to throughput.

But it's not that simple - and that's due to various special features of the US racer. On the one hand there is the innovative steering head suspension, called "Future Shock Progressive System", which offers 20mm of spring travel and thus softens hard impacts. This feature, which is very practical in everyday pothole life, has a significant effect on the seat geometry, since the suspension sits above the head tube and increases its overall height. Together with the extremely low bottom bracket (caution: do not pedal when cornering!), this means that the rider adopts a very upright posture compared to the length of the seat. What seems quite sporty in itself is more of a tour-oriented racer - or one that encourages extensive lower-link riding.

So a long-distance bike after all, this bike with the beautifully modeled tube transitions! Three bottle holders, eyelets for mudguards and also a mounting option for a luggage rack at the rear make the Diverge a veritable multi-day tourer. In this context, one is also pleased about the translation, which offers a real reduction with 46/32 at the front and 11-34 at the rear, whereby the cassette is of course rather coarsely graded. If you can do without two teeth at the rear, you get a much finer sprocket set with 11-32 with at least four jumps.

It is not uncommon for Specialized to combine a high-quality frame with somewhat simpler parts. The Shimano 105 is fine, but mechanical disc brakes aren't really the thing - a pity, because this detail can't be easily eliminated by conversion.

Specialized Diverge Comp E5: Let's Gravel

At first glance, the Specialized Diverge Comp E5 presented itself to us as a racing bike that can also be used for light off-road use. This is not only due to the in-house 30mm tires, which are sufficient for gravel but reach their limits especially on wet ground in the terrain. But also because the Gravelracer visually exudes an extremely sporty charm. Thanks to the so-called Future Shock Progressive System, which is located directly above the head tube and absorbs particularly hard shocks with 20mm of spring travel, the geometry is relaxed, which leads to a fairly upright sitting position. When asked what the "spring system" can do, we can only say that it just feels good on very hard ground and offers a real plus in comfort. After several hours of driving, this is particularly noticeable in the forearm/hand area, as these areas do not tire as quickly/strongly.

The lowered bottom bracket in conjunction with the slightly lower rear triangle counteracts potholes and bumps and offers additional comfort. Here it is almost a pity that the Specialized Diverge Comp E5 hardly offers any space for wider tires, otherwise really hard gravel tours should not be a problem at all. Here we also find it a bit disappointing that a mechanical disc brake with cable pull is used. Although this works well for its conditions and does its job, it is quite a bit behind its hydraulic competitors in terms of performance.

Otherwise, the equipment of the Diverge Comp with Shimano 105, Praxisworks crank and mostly in-house attachments offers a good mix of functionality and simplicity. However, the possibility of attaching three bottle holders, mudguards and a luggage rack at the rear clearly speaks for use as a gravel bike.